Top 10 Five-Star All-Inclusive Resorts in Zanzibar

·True premium all-inclusive concept

Tulia Zanzibar is a sixteen-unit all-inclusive at Pongwe, for couples who want a villa and a plan with no bracelet and no bill to sign. It is about 50 minutes from the airport on Zanzibar's east coast, with sixteen bungalows and villas from 120 to 190 square metres, one a la carte restaurant, two waterslides and private pools in the top categories. The airport transfer is inside the rate, which is rare here, and so are the premium drinks.

·Every villa has a private pool

The Residence Zanzibar is 66 villas on a secluded stretch of the southwest coast at Kizimkazi, and every single one has a private pool. That is the proposition: gardens, quiet, space and water you never share, with two restaurants, The Dining Room and The Pavilion, and a main pool with a shallow end for children. The beach here is tidal, so how much sand and how much swimming you get changes through the day.

·True all-inclusive product

The Mora is a large all-inclusive on Muyuni Beach in the north of Zanzibar, for couples and families who want the plan to carry the week. It is about 45 minutes from the airport, with 250 suites, four restaurants, four pools and a kids' club, on a calm stretch facing Mnemba Island. It is new, it is polished, and it is nowhere near a town, which is why the plan does more work here than at most resorts.

·Reef-protected 300-meter beach

Melia Zanzibar holds sixteen hectares and 300 metres of white sand at Kiwengwa, on the north coast. A natural coral reef protects the beach, which makes swimming calmer here than most of the island manages. Six restaurants and five bars sit across the estate, along with a spa of six treatment rooms and pools that include an adults-only one for guests over sixteen.

·Small all-villa format with very large accommodations.

A small adults-only place on Zanzibar's coast done up in Swahili-palace style, carved arches and Arab baths at the Frangipani spa. It's built for couples: dinners on the beach under the stars, dhow cruises at sunset, and some of the Indian Ocean's best diving right offshore. Quiet, romantic, and a little theatrical in the best way.

·True 24-hour RIU all-inclusive model.

Hotel Riu Palace Zanzibar is a 24-hour all-inclusive on the Nungwi coast, for people who want the island's best swimming beach and a swim-up suite. It has 100 rooms, three pools with a swim-up bar and three restaurants, on the northern tip where the water stays clear and the tide matters less than it does further round the island. Riu's plan runs around the clock, which is the other reason people book it.

·Five restaurants

TUI BLUE Bahari is a polished garden resort on Zanzibar's north-east coast, for couples and families who want strong service and several pools. The beach is the backdrop rather than the swim. It is about 50 minutes from the airport, on the Kiwengwa and Pwani Mchangani strand, with 207 rooms, three pools, five restaurants and three bars. The beach is beautiful and the swimming is tidal, which is the east coast's standing condition.

·Strong Kendwa beachfront location.

·Beautiful Kiwengwa beachfront and tropical gardens.

·Premium all-inclusive plan with meals, drinks, cocktails, and appetizers included.

Dream of Zanzibar is a small premium all-inclusive on Uroa beach on Zanzibar's east coast, for couples and families who want a compact, quiet resort. It is the beach week after a safari rather than a big complex, about 45 minutes from the airport, with 36 suites, one restaurant, one bar and one pool on a lagoon shore. Everything is close and the days are unhurried, which is the appeal, and which is also why a week here suits people who are content with one dining room.